Kristin Gudbrands - New Spring Artist in Residence

Kristin Gudbrands, one of our new two Spring Artist in Residence, answered the following questions:

1.) What college did you attend and what major?

I got my first degree from Reykjavik Technical College, where I studied cabinet making. Later I went to the University of Iceland from which I got a B.Ed. degree (Bachelor of Education) with a major in art and textile education. My most recent degree is from the Corcoran College of Art + Design. From there I have a MA in Art and the Book.

2.) What has influenced your art? What do you mainly work with?

My work has a tendency to be personal and I mostly draw from memory and experience. I am fascinated with insects and use my camera to inspect them up close. I use extension tubes to take closeup photographs of their wonderful colors and textures that are not visible to the naked eye. I then use the photos in my artists’ books. The book form serves me as an artist because to me a book is not solely an object where pages are turned but a medium for artistic expression. It is a sculptural object where experiences take place and perception is challenged.

3.) How long are you going to be staying at Pyramid and what will you be working on?

My goal is to be associated with Pyramid while I live in the DC area, which will hopefully be for a long time. Currently I am one of their spring residents. The residency ends around mid May. I will out of the country for three months over the summer but when I return I hope to volunteer and teach some classes at Pyramid.

Over the past few weeks I have been working on boxes and experimenting with paper. I have been wrapping over beaten flax around circular objects, mainly water balloons. I hope to make hundreds of little paper balls to further experiment with texture and tactility.

4.) Any funny/ quirky incidents that have happened to you while working on your art?

Because of my love of insects, one of the wonderful and funny coincidences I experienced was when a bee appeared floating in my vat while I was starting my residency this spring. It happened as I was about to pull my first sheet. I made sure to pull the bug with the paper.  I let the sheet dry on the mold to prevent squishing the bee. This sheet is in my opinion undoubtedly the most fabulous sheet of paper ever to come out of Pyramid! 

Spring Artists in Residence!

April Showers Bring May Flowers ~ And New Artists in Residents!

As the flowers bloom and the birds sing, Pyramid welcomes two new Artists in Residence - Laure Drogoul and Kristin Gudbrands.

First off we have Laure Dorgoul:

Laure studied at MICA in Baltimore, Maryland, getting a MFA in Sculpture. She usually does interdisciplinary works in subjecys such as objects/technology, performance and her body. SHe will be at Pyramid for three months and will be experimenting casting paper in combination with circuits (soft circuits). For a project she once slept on the side of the road with a cow and a calf.

Interesting - She'll have to explain that story to us one time.

Stay in touch for Kristin's interview.

The Member's Show - April 6th to 25th

This week is the last week the show will be up; Make sure to stop by before the exhibit closes!

The Gallery will be open 10 am to 5 pm, Monday through Sunday.

New Intern - Melinda Thiessen

Melinsa Thiessen studied at Louisiana State University with a major in Graphic Design. In addition to this, she enjoyed taking classes in Sculpture, Book Arts, and General Fine Arts. Currently she is working on a letterpress edition for the in-house printswap and portfolio cases for peoples' prints.

Melinda likes to work and mess around with paper and board and spends some of her free time making books. As a child she would always create booklets for things such as bake sales, where she would include little sections on the recipes and the profit of each food. Along with this, she would create little take-out menus and worksheets based on what she was learning at the time. With her sister, Melinda says that they would make a "Booklet of Pointless Activities" some of which included Mad-Libs.

For something quirky that happened to her, Melinda recounts how once, for her final project in sculpture, her class needed to create an outdoor instillation piece in the middle of Winter with the weather being 30 degrees Farenheit. She was outside until 3 AM, waiting for her friend to finish a piece when it started to rain. Her friend was working on a small house made by 2 by 4's and covered with clear visqueen and filled with cotton/ insullation. Having no other choice, she and her friend had to retreat to the little house. While there were leaks and the cotton damp, Melinda and her friends decided to take a nap, eventually falling asleep with in the house. The next morning, they awoke to people staring at them sleeping as well as looking at the little house project which remained imcompleted.

MEMBER'S SHOW EXHIBITION - April 6th to 25th

Come join us for the 2013 Member's Shows Exhibition at the Washington Printmaker Gallery just above Pyramid Atlantic.

Stop by the Gallery to view selected pieces from April 6th to 25th, from 10 am to 5 pm, Monday through Sunday.

About the Juror: Amelia Hankin, received her MFA in printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2006. She has exhibited at the Ellen Miller Gallery, University of Richmond Museum, Ridderhof Martin Gallery at the University of Mary Washington, 55 Mercer Gallery, International Print Center New York, the 808 Gallery at Boston University, The Chazan Gallery, Columbia College, The Xavier University Art Gallery, and the RISD Museum of Art. She received an artist’s travel grant to study Eastern woodblock printmaking techniques at Kyoto Seika University in 2005. Since then, Hankin has attended residencies at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, the Women’s Studio Workshop, and Vermont Studio Center. She has taught printmaking, design, and drawing at American University, George Mason University, and the Rhode Island School of Design. She is currently represented at the Ellen Miller Gallery.

Allison Bianco's The Sinking of Matunuck